While Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio were Quentin Tarantino’s first choices for Cliff Booth and Rick Dalton, he also considered several other pairings for the part in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. One of those pairings included a massive star whom Tarantino has yet to work with. That individual in question is none other than Tom Cruise, better known as “Mr. See You At The Movies.” Nowadays, Cruise is most well-known for his dedicated work in the action genre (and saving studios), particularly with the wildly successful Mission: Impossible and Top Gun franchises. Still, his skill as an actor goes far beyond stuntwork as he is also a three-time Oscar nominee (four if you count his producing role on Top Gun: Maverick) who has starred in prestigious works like Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire, Magnolia, and, of course, Tropic Thunder.

According to Tarantino during an interview on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, consideration for Cruise in the part of Cliff Booth was serious enough to the point where Tarantino and Cruise had a conversation about the part. Tarantino’s response to the discussion was nothing but positive, calling Cruise a “great guy” and even proudly stating he’d like to work with him on another project in the future. The decision to cast Pitt instead of Cruise came down to getting the right pair of actors for the dual protagonists, which he elaborated on further by stating how it all came down to creating an aspect of realism.